Camden Snow Bowl full of fall festivities

The first Harvest Hootenanny will take over the mountain-surrounded bowl from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9. The hootenanny will feature several bands to bring bluegrass, folk, children’s and rock music to Ragged Mountain.

Camden Parks and Recreation will hold the annual Ragged Mountain Festival, which will offer many children’s activities, on Sunday, Oct. 10.

Five Town Communities That Care and the West Bay Rotary Club have organized the music-central joint fundraiser on Saturday. Six local bands will play music throughout the day.

Bands will include gospel and bluegrass from The Breezemere Bottom Boys, singer-songwriters Lisa Redfern and Wyatt McLean, an alt-country group The Mallett Brothers Band and jug-based blues from Roosevelt Dime.

While the music fills the Snow Bowl, other events will happen around the stage, including a pumpkin-chucking contest, said Peter Russell, a member of Five Town Communities That Care.

People are encouraged to bring their carved jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkin pies for judging in a contest Saturday.

The CTC Olympics will lure public officials to put on a show.

Local police will compete in a doughnut eating contest. Firefighters will do drills. “The Select Board members will tie themselves up in red tape,” Russell said.

The events have small fees associated with them to help raise money for local education programs.

For children, the event will feature a balloon artist and a bounce house. All children get into the event free.

“It will be a really cool family day,” Russell said.

On Sunday, the Ragged Mountain Festival will offer adults scenic rides on the ski lift while children can partake in Jack O’Apple head carving. The idea is for children to carve apples into faces, not a far cry from pumpkin carving except that in a few days the apples shrivel.

“It turns into a really cool shrunken head,” said Jeff Kuller, the director of Camden Parks and Recreation.

There also will be a pancake breakfast, a kid-dog obstacle course, a bicycle race, a costume contest, fairy house building, a pumpkin hunt and more.